This specification relates to the configuration of data processing devices and the exchange of information between data processing devices.
Users of mobile devices such as cellular telephones or personal digital assistants (PDAs) periodically need to transfer data such as configuration information, software applications, contacts, email messages or music, for example, to or from their mobile devices. When a mobile device is connected to a host computer such as a desktop or a laptop computer, the mobile device typically does not appear as a natural extension of the host computer from the standpoint of the host computer's graphical user interface (GUI). For instance, some mobile devices cannot be directly interacted with from the host computer's native GUI. Instead, such devices commonly require that users run proprietary software on the host computer in order to transfer data to or from the mobile devices.